On the second day of the battle of Ninghe, I learned that the frigate Ninghe under my command was stranded and was under siege. The enemy also tried to capture the Ninghe intact and humiliate myself.
Rear Admiral Wen Hongda, the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet, scolded the captain of the Ninghe. Lieutenant Colonel Wang Xiangrong, who had been killed in the battle, was a big fool. It was not good to go there in such a big Strait of Malacca, but he had to go close to the capital of the Kingdom of Aceh. Aceh Port is close to the coast. If you don’t die, who will die?
Then he scolded the natives of Aceh for being shameless... I didn't even bother to attack your port, but you still dared to attack my warship!
In short, the furious Rear Admiral Wen Hongda took the fleet to a coastal port in the Kingdom of Aceh the next day, carried out a devastating bombardment of the port, and fired numerous howitzers, causing a fire in the port city!
Subsequently, Rear Admiral Wen Hongda led the fleet to attack another port. If it were not for the strong defense of Greater Aceh, the capital of the Acehnese people, and a relatively complete coastal defense artillery system, Rear Admiral Wen Hongda would have led the fleet to attack them directly. The capital was bombarded.
However, after these several port attacks, a certain amount of the Kingdom of Aceh's maritime transportation capabilities was destroyed, forcing the Kingdom of Aceh to reduce reinforcements to the Malay Peninsula territories.
As for a complete lockdown...that's not possible!
The Strait of Malacca is still very spacious. If the Chu Navy wants to complete a complete blockade with only two cruisers and a few frigates, the possibility is infinitely close to zero.
Even if they can't be defeated, why can't they transport it secretly while hiding from you? If they can't do it during the day, why can't they do it at night?
No one stipulates that the Aceh Kingdom sends troops to reinforce, but it must be done in broad daylight, right under the nose of your Chu fleet...
They were transporting reinforcements in hiding, and the Chu Army's Indian Ocean Fleet was helpless.
But these are not important, and they cannot affect the series of military operations of the Chu Empire on the Malay Peninsula!
Because the one responsible for the first round of offensive on the Malay Peninsula was actually not the navy's fleet, but the Army's Fifth Infantry Division!
As for the navy's actions, in the words of the army's generals: after sending the troops and supplies to Beijia, your navy will have nothing to do, so go away...
Before the transportation, the Army actually had a pretty good attitude toward the Navy. Every three days, army generals would go to the Navy generals to contact them... After all, the transportation really relied on the Navy to give them face.
But, as soon as the personnel and supplies arrived in Beijia, the Army started to tremble again... When the Army-Navy Joint Operations Conference was held in Patani Port, the Army people even mocked the Navy to their faces for having suffered a huge defeat. He said that if the rescue had not been timely, there would have been prisoners. He also said that since the Funiu Mountain period, their Chu Empire had never been annihilated by the enemy, let alone captured. Your navy almost set a precedent. .
Admiral Wang Kui'en, the commander of the First Fleet who came to the meeting angrily, had a black face the whole time... As soon as the meeting ended, Admiral Wang Kui'en, in the name of the Supreme Commander of the Southern Ocean Region of the Da Chu Empire Navy, directly handed over Rear Admiral Wen Hongda, the commander of the Indian Ocean Fleet. Of course, it is difficult to appoint and transfer senior generals. The Indian Ocean Fleet also needs a senior commander, so it is better to let Rear Admiral Wen Hongda temporarily act as the Indian Ocean Fleet to acquit himself and make meritorious service...
After Rear Admiral Wen Hongda learned the news, he was angry and helpless. In addition to calling the commanders on the Ninghe frigate idiots over and over again, he could only lament that he was so unlucky to have such a group of idiot subordinates.
As an official, it doesn't matter if you do something wrong. What you are afraid of is making your boss lose face... You Wen Hongda made the navy boss above him lose face, and the boss just wants to slap you!
Fortunately, there is still a chance to make meritorious deeds. If this is done well, removal from office may lead to reinstatement.
In short, the navy was quite unlucky in this battle.
Let’s not talk about the navy for now. The point is that once the army sees that its personnel and supplies have arrived in Beijia, it will last for three to five months. If they save money and there is no large-scale war, there will be no need to replenish supplies for half a year.
The Army started to tremble... and returned to its previous style of mocking the Navy a hundred times but never taunting it ninety-nine times.
As a result, the "land-sea joint operations meeting" held in Patani Port broke up unhappy, and then they decided to go their separate ways... The army was responsible for the ground combat on the Malay Peninsula, the navy was responsible for the sea blockade and material replenishment, and Landed and captured the Lion City and several other islands at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca.
As for whether to cooperate, we'll decide when the time comes... Anyway, neither side wants to see the other's ugly face now.
Under this situation, the Fifth Infantry Division of the Da Chu Empire Army also officially launched a large-scale operation!
The Fifth Infantry Division of the Army is one of the twenty combat-ready infantry divisions of the Chu Empire and the main force in the southwest of the Chu Empire's army.
To say it is an ace is perhaps too much. After all, the reputation of this unit is not very great, and it is far less famous than the ace units such as the 1st Division, 10th Division, and 11th Division.
When it comes to the First Division, even the Zhungeer people know that this is the number one ace unit of the Da Chu Empire Army. This unit does nothing on the battlefield and can scare the enemy into restraint and dare not act rashly!
The 10th Division and the 11th Division were also ace units that had made great achievements on the battlefield.
The above three infantry divisions are also the first batch of combat readiness units established after the Chu Empire implemented the army combat readiness classification system. They are deployed in several strategic locations and maintain combat readiness status all year round.
The 1st Division is currently deployed in Tianjin, the 10th Division is deployed in Luoyang, and the 11th Division is deployed in Chang'an.
Just looking at the deployment directions of these three divisions, you will know the importance of these divisions.
As for the Fifth Division, the reason why this unit was called a combat readiness division was purely because at that time, there was only the Fifth Division as the main force in Yunnan-Guizhou direction.
In order to guard against Burma and suppress rebels such as local chieftains in Yunnan and Guizhou, the Army also needs to maintain a combat-ready force in this direction.
As a result, the treatment of this combat readiness division was given to the Fifth Division.
However... even if the Fifth Division is not a real ace unit, it is still a combat-ready unit, and it is the type that can hang up the Burmese and beat them in Yunnan!
Later, after half a year of adaptive training in Qiongzhou Island, he was sent to the Beijia area. After more than half a year of local garrison in the Beijia area, he has now basically adapted to the climate and other conditions of the Malay Peninsula.
With this adapted to the local area and sufficient logistical supplies, the Fifth Division also broke out with a powerful combat capability that made the Acehnese, even other surrounding countries or forces, and even the Dutch cry.
Especially its powerful attack ability can be described as invincible!
After the Fifth Division launched the attack, they soon encountered the Acehnese's first heavily fortified city: Kedah!
This is a port city located on the coast of Malacca, only a few dozen kilometers away from the area controlled by the Chu Empire. It is only over a hundred kilometers away from the capital of the Beijia region of the Chu Empire and the seat of the Nanyang governor.
It is worth noting that Pak Nian is the most important port on the east coast of the Pekka region, and Kedah Port is also the most important west coast port in the Pekka region.
The Dachu Empire had long wanted to capture this port and then establish a land passage with Beinian Port, which could provide land supplies for the Indian Ocean Fleet and other troops when the Strait of Malacca was threatened.
The supply line must be absolutely safe. Although the Strait of Malacca is also navigable, there are too many uncertain factors. After all, this strait is not controlled by the Chu Empire. Therefore, the Chu Empire previously was directly in the north. Area A has established a land transportation line across the east and west banks of Beijia as a precaution.
If the west coast terminus of this transportation line can be established in Kedah, it will be more convenient and trouble-free because Kedah has a ready-made port.
Of course... these were the thoughts of the Chu Empire before. Now, the Chu Empire is bent on seizing and controlling the entire Strait of Malacca, so it is okay to have land transportation lines in the Beijia area, but it doesn't matter if it is not available. manner.
This can be achieved in Kedah, which was previously favored by the Chu Empire. Naturally, the Kingdom of Aceh also attaches great importance to it.
This place is actually an important strategic node of the Kingdom of Aceh in the Malay Peninsula.
It is the bridgehead for the Kingdom of Aceh's expansion in the Malay Peninsula. The troops and materials needed for the Kingdom of Aceh's expansion in the Malay Peninsula are transported from Sumatra to Kedah Port, and then further to various parts of the Malay Peninsula. of.
Therefore, the Kingdom of Aceh also attaches great importance to Kedah. It has deployed more than 4,000 troops to garrison here all year round and built city fortresses. As the people of the Chu Empire entered the Beijia area, in order to defend against the Chu Empire, they also Under the guidance of the Dutch, improvements were made to the local city and more than a dozen artillery pieces purchased from the Dutch were deployed.
But all this...the fierce artillery offensive of the Da Chu Empire Army was all in vain!
one day!
In just one day, the Fifth Division of the Chu Army captured this extremely important city for the Kingdom of Aceh!
And the troops attacking the city were not all of the Fifth Division... In fact, they were only a large-scale mixed force with the 18th Infantry Regiment as the core, equipped with a large number of artillery, logistics personnel and cavalry, led by Bai Zhen, deputy commander of the Fifth Division. Under the command of the brigadier general, it is called the "White Zhen Brigade" within the army.
In fact, this is not an organization, but a temporary mixed force formed for a certain battle. The Chu army often uses a regiment as the core, combined with artillery baggage and cavalry to form a force of about five or six thousand people, which is carried out by the deputy division commander. command.
For the convenience of naming, the army usually calls this kind of temporarily formed unit by the name of the general plus the name of the brigade, so the seemingly nondescript name "White Zhen Brigade" came into being.
The strength of the Bai Zhen Brigade was actually not much greater than that of the defenders, only about 6,000 men.
The attacking force of 6,000 men was actually not much compared to the 4,000 men defending the city. It could even be said to be less.
In a critical battle, under normal circumstances, especially when the equipment and tactics of both sides are at the same level, it is impossible for the attacker to succeed in a critical battle without several times the strength of the troops.
But the problem is that the equipment level of the Chu army far exceeds that of the Aceh army on the opposite side!
The firepower possessed by the White Zhen Brigade was powerful enough to make the Acehnese defenders on the opposite side despair, and even stunned the Dutch observers who were called to watch the battle but were actually secretly providing various city defense suggestions to the Acehnese army...
The Chu army, which numbered only a few thousand people, frantically brought eight 150mm light howitzers, twelve 115mm light howitzers, eight 90mm light field guns, and eight 115mm light field guns.
The above-mentioned artillery pieces are all lightweight artillery designed and produced specifically for areas with complex terrain. The most important thing is that these more than 30 artillery pieces can fire grenades!
The traditional defenses used to defend against solid artillery shells are basically useless in the face of grenades with curved trajectories...
As a result, the entire battle process became shocking and extremely boring at the same time!
After several rounds of shelling by the Chu army, the defenders suffered heavy casualties due to lack of preparedness. The commander of the Chu army, Brigadier General Bai Zhen, deputy commander of the fifth division, saw that there seemed to be a chance, so he sent the commandos up to charge... …and then, then the battle is over!
Aceh's 4,000 defenders suffered more than 400 casualties and nearly 1,000 people fled. The remaining 2,500 people were basically taken as prisoners.
Many Acehnese prisoners were in a state of shock when they were captured.
It's only been one day since the war started. No... to be precise, it's only been more than an hour since the bombardment started, and these Chu people have already come in?
Damn it, who dares to believe whoever comes out!
And the dozen or so Dutch people watching the battle also looked dumbfounded...
Many of them were still discussing with the Acehnese generals how to set up defenses and how to defend the city. Before the discussion was over, someone from outside ran in and told them that the damn Chu people had already entered the city. …
Damn it, people who don’t know think that the city of Kedah was undefended and the Chu people simply entered the city with great swagger.
Fortunately, these Dutch people were smart. As soon as they heard that the city was destroyed, they immediately left the Acehnese military camp and went to work as their own 'merchants'. Otherwise, there would have been more than a dozen more in the prisoner camp. Dutch figure!
The Battle of Kedah had a much greater impact than the Battle of Ninghe!
The Battle of Ninhe seems to have a high casualty ratio, but anyone who knows the inside story knows that this is an additional sacrifice made by the Kingdom of Aceh for political purposes and cannot be treated as a regular battle.
A battle with a strong political purpose is divorced from the actual situation and has no good reference value.
If we look at it from a purely military perspective, the Aceh army saw the stranded Chu warship and attacked it... They should have set fire to the ship from the beginning. By then, the officers and soldiers on the Ninghe frigate would have been blinded, and it would be impossible to persist. Come to the frigate Lin Guang for reinforcements.
But the Acehnese people want to capture the frigate Ninghe intact!
But if the Dutch were in the same situation as Dachu, the Dutch would be confident that they could do as well or even better.
The Chu Empire's performance in the navy was strong only because of its large numbers, and these were still within the scope of the Dutch's cognition.
What's so great about having more ships and more guns? If we Dutch had so much money, we could build so many warships, hum...
But the army of the Chu Empire... Nima, the Dutch really can't understand it.
A few years ago, the Kingdom of Siam suffered such a tragic defeat in the Battle of Thonburi. The Dutch also heard some rumors. Later, they also inquired with the Siamese and learned that the Chu army was particularly powerful in field battles and all used flintlock guns. The firing rate of the army's flintlock rifles was particularly high.
Until now, the Dutch still have not been able to understand why the Dachu Empire's flintlock guns had such a high firing rate.
They also got a few foreign guns and tried to imitate them, but unfortunately they failed. The firing rate of the flintlock guns they produced was very poor. However, in the warm and humid Southeast Asian region, such flintlocks with poor firing rate were used. Gun, that's a nightmare...
Might as well be a matchlock gun.
Of course, the matchlock gun cannot be used to implement the line tactics of the Chu people. The Dutch tried to use the matchlock gun to engage in dense line tactics, but unfortunately it was not possible. The matchlock on the matchlock gun could easily cause the friendly muskets to misfire. There is no way to form a dense formation.
The sparse formation has insufficient firepower and poor impact resistance.
Line tactics appeared after the flintlock gun became mature and widely used. This is not without reason, but because only the flintlock gun can meet the needs of line tactics, and the matchlock gun cannot!
It is impossible to produce a good flintlock gun that can be used. They only rely on a few flintlock guns or matchlock guns. It is difficult for them to imitate or imitate the line tactics of the Chu Empire. Naturally, it is also difficult for them to experience it personally. How powerful is the line tactic?
Therefore, I have only heard about how powerful the Chu army's infantry in the field are... I have never seen it with my own eyes, let alone experienced it.
And they say that the Chu army in Thonburi has powerful artillery... This doesn't seem to matter. Everyone has artillery. The Chu army just has more artillery, so it's not a big deal.
It's the howitzers that the Dutch can't understand...
They don't know about grenades and use them themselves, but the grenades that the Dutch know are fuse-type grenades fired from mortars.
This thing is troublesome to use and its power is small, but the key point is that it is very dangerous.
Mortar artillerymen have been one of the most dangerous arms for hundreds of years. They could blow themselves up accidentally...
If the mortar artillery skills are not very good, then the number of casualties between the enemy and ourselves may be similar if the mortar artillery is used to bombard the enemy's fortress for a whole day.
There may even be more dead and injured artillerymen on one's side than the number of defenders killed.
Therefore, mortars are very troublesome and dangerous to use, even when the Chu army used them during the Unification War.
It's just that during the war, when tens of thousands of people were killed or injured at every turn, no one cared about the dozens or hundreds of mortar artillerymen who lost their lives due to various accidents...
The Dutch are no exception. They also know and use mortars, but the problem is that the Chu army does not use mortars... but artillery with relatively long barrels.
The Dutch could clearly see that one of the artillery pieces used by the Chu army to fire grenades had a barrel longer than a mortar but a shorter fire than a field gun. This was considered normal...
The key thing is that these Chu troops actually fired grenades directly from field artillery, and they didn't even explode!
This almost broke their inherent cognition.
They don't know that the grenades used by the Dachu Empire are specially developed and produced wooden ammunition holders and wooden time-delay fuse grenades.
It can be fired from long-barreled artillery, but when long-barreled artillery such as field guns are fired, the propellant charge must be reduced to reduce the chamber pressure.
After all, the grenade's shell has a limited pressure-bearing capacity, and the chamber pressure cannot be too high when launched, otherwise the grenade will fragment or even explode.
This is also the reason for limiting the maximum range of Chu army grenades such as solid artillery shells. When the 115mm field gun fires a solid cannon, regardless of the shooting accuracy, when the maximum elevation angle is used, the maximum range can reach 1,600 meters... And this maximum range is not because it can only hit this far, but because it is too far and has no practical significance, so there is no need to increase the elevation angle too high to increase the range!
Because in actual combat, this kind of artillery is usually used for targets within a kilometer. Only when the enemy troops are in large groups and there is no need to consider the shooting accuracy too much, the shooting distance will be widened to more than a kilometer. However, it is not It will be over 1,200 meters.
Basically, artillery bombardment over 1,200 meters can only be used as a covering artillery bombardment to attack enemy cluster targets, but the actual combat effect is very poor.
As for the maximum range of artillery fire, which is 1,600 meters, the Chu army hardly uses it in actual combat.
Because the kinetic energy of solid artillery shells is seriously insufficient at this distance, the lethality is very limited, not to mention the hit rate... It is so far away, who cares about the hit rate.
Therefore, although the Chu army's 115mm field artillery has an effective range of only seven or eight hundred meters... its maximum range can reach 1,600 meters. If necessary, the range can be increased by increasing the design elevation angle, but it is not necessary. …
However, when the same artillery fires grenades, it needs to strictly limit the maximum range. The artillery force has clear regulations that when the 13-year-old 115mm field gun fires standard grenades, the maximum range must not exceed 1,200 meters. You can only have less but not more!
Otherwise... I'll blow it up and show it to you!
In other words, what limits the Chu army's grenade range now is not the artillery, but the artillery shells. To be more precise, it is the shell materials and processing of the artillery shells.
Naturally, the Dutch didn't know much about these things. They only saw the Da Chu Empire Army directly using long-barreled field guns to launch grenades.
And they couldn't understand it and were even shocked!
It is incomprehensible and incomprehensible. They are just middle and low-level observers, and they are not senior generals of the Dutch East India Company, so they only need to pass the relevant news back to Batavia.
But it is a pity that these Dutch 'businessmen' were rejected when they tried to leave Kedah Port.
After the Bai Zhen Brigade of the Da Chu Empire Army captured Kedah Port, they immediately announced a citywide blockade and strictly prohibited everyone from going out, let alone setting up ships to leave at this time.
Not even the Dutch!
This is a war period, and the Chu army plans to use this place as a material transfer station. In order to ensure safety, it is natural to strictly control local security and prevent intelligence leaks or saboteurs from causing various sabotages.
The Chu army didn't have enough manpower or mood to set up card checks and so on, so they directly blocked the whole city and prohibited entry and exit. It was simple and trouble-free!
As a result, these Dutch people could only return with a dark face, and then waited in the business store for the end of the blockade period.
What the Dutch didn't know was that the White Zhen Brigade actually didn't stay in Kedah Port for long. After taking the place and resting for three days, leaving a battalion to garrison the place, the main force of the White Zhen Brigade continued to move eastward. .
They will fight all the way to Malacca City!
